MaMiya C330 Professional s
The last of C330 line remained in production until 1994.mount lenses, spanning 14mm
to 300mm. Another version of
the camera, called the NC1000s,
was introduced at the end of
1978 and primarily allowed for the
interchanging of focusing screens,
although it also featured a holder
on the film back to accommodate
a box top.
Mamiya’s 35mm SLR program
again changed course in 1980 with
the introduction of the ZE which
pioneered the concept of using
electronic contacts as the interface
between camera body and lens.
This again necessitated a change
of lens mount design – to the E/EF bayonet fitting – but Mamiya
made this decision early with a
configuration which would have
comfortably taken its 35mm SLR
system into the autofocus era had
the Osawa collapse not happened.
The ZE incorporated a CPU to
manage its auto exposure control
operations, including quartz-timed
automatic shutter speeds for
aperture-priority control (the only
mode available) with an SPD-based
centre-weighted average metering
system. The ZE-2 arrived just
six months later, adding manual
shutter speed selection and, again
ahead of its time, a camera shakeprevention system. As the camera
could read the focal length of the
attached lens – via the electronic
contacts – it was able to avoid
setting an automatically-selected
shutter speed that would result in
camera shake.
Mamiya took all this a step
further with the ZE-X which
was introduced in late 1981
and offered the choice of either
aperture- or shutter-priority auto
exposure control with a ‘crossover
system’ – hence the ‘X’ in the
model designation – override
which automatically intervened to
change settings if the manually-selected aperture or speed
was likely to result in under- or
overexposure. It also offered
programmed exposure control with
a choice of eight program lines
to suit particularly subjects (i.e.
favouring faster shutter speeds
when shooting moving subjects).
Camera shake prevention was
again provided and, when a
dedicated flash was fitted, the
crossover system blocked it from
firing when there was sufficient
available light, but activated it
automatically if the required
shutter speed would likely result
in camera shake. The crossoverMaMiya rB67 Pro sD 50th anniv.
In 1990 Mamiya celebrated its 50th anniversary with a special
gold-plated version of the RB67 Pro SD.MaMiya 645 Pro
The 645 PRO introduced a range of revisions, both inside and out,
including the provision of a ‘T’ setting for making longer exposures.MaMiya M645 suPer
Mamiya significantly updated its 6x4.5cm SLR system in 1985 with the all-new
M645 Super, also a polycarbonate bodyshell and introducing interchangeable
film magazines to the format. An optional autowinder was available.64
CLASSICS MaMiya
1983 19851990 1992CamMayJune17_058-067 ClassicsMamiya.indd 64 13/04/2017 12:13 PM